HACHI: A DOG’S STORY

US, 2009, 93 minutes, Colour.
Richard Gere, Joan Allen, Sarah Roemer, Jason Alexander, Cary- Hiroyuki Tagawa.
Directed by Lasse Halstrom.

Dog lovers prepare to weep. Not so sure about those who are not attached to dogs and their leaping, licking and nuzzling playfulness. Perhaps, just sit back and enjoy.

Based on a 1987 Japanese film which was, in turn, based on a true story from the 1920s and 1930s (with the real Hachi's photo appearing at the end as in many a biopic), this is a story of how strong a dog's best friend credentials can be.

We see Hachi being sent from Japan to the US and, by a series of accidents that do no credit to postal or transport and delivery services, poor little Hachi finds himself, label-less, except for the luck emblem around his neck, wandering a railway station in smalltown USA. Fortunately for Hachi, music professor Richard Gere runs into him, tries to find his owner but, despite his wife Joan Allen's antipathy towards having a dog in the house, they bond. Having seen dog owners and their bonds with their dogs, I soon realised that Gere's bonding with Hachi was Bonding (with a capital B). Actually, Gere's delight in performing with Hachi is such a strong factor for the film that the story becomes quite credible, especially in the latter part of the film where Hachi for years goes daily to the train station to wait attentively for his master – with a lot of help, love and care (and constant treats) from the hot dog stand owner, the book shop manager and the butchers, husband and wife, both advising Hachi to keep it quiet because the other does not know that they are sneaking out to feed him.

Whether the Akita breed of dogs is more 'human' than most, I don't know, but with the training and the photographic angles and the direction, you would be sure that Hachi not only knew what was happening but really understood – a range of smiles, eager looks, cute looks, quizzical looks... (And, at times, the camera goes black and white to show Hachi's point of view and sight of what is going on,)

This is a film suitable for all. Adult dog lovers will empathise with Richard Gere and, eventually, Joan Allen. Children will be well focused on the dog. Then the thought came: who is the better example of canine love and loyalty, Greyfriars Bobby or Hachi? Probably, a draw.

1. A true story? The 1920s and 30s in Japan? The statue to the original dog outside the railway station in Japan? The transposing of the story to the United States?

2. The film’s appeal, dog lovers, humans? Devotion, the dog as the human’s best friend? Emotion, tears?

3. The opening, the story of the young dog, the Japanese background, the monk, sending the dog to the United States, the labels, the hazards of travel, the dog being lost?

4. The opening with the class: Ronnie and his telling his story, heroes, his grandfather, the story of Hachi?

5. The railway station, Carl, his caring for the dog, yet wanting to find the owner, for it to be out of the station? Professor Parker Wilson and the encounter, the late time at the evening, his helping out, taking the dog? Cate and her not wanting a dog in the house?

6. Richard Gere as Parker, his skill in acting with the dogs and keeping audience sympathy? His background, music, composition? His classes, the students? His love for his wife? Their daughter? The story of family relationships?

7. Hachi and his name, the collar? Ken and his Japanese background, friendship with Parker, explaining the dog, the Akiti breed? Nobility? Parker bringing the dog into the house, concealing it from Cate, getting into trouble? There being no claimants at the station? Taking the dog home, the set-up, the kennel in the garden, play, Andy and her love for the dog? It becoming part of the family, Cate accepting it? Parker and his attempts to teach it to fetch – and failure? Parker going to the station, Hachi following, burrowing under the fence, chasing Parker? The repetition day by day, faithful, waiting, waiting for the return? Meeting the train? Parker and his friendship with the various storekeepers, their meeting Hachi and befriending him, supplying him with food?

8. The pattern of life, Hachi growing bigger, becoming a pet of the family, of the people at the station, Andy playing with the dog? Her marriage, Ronnie’s birth?

9. Parker, trying to get Hachi to fetch, the final success? The collapse of the professor in class, the heart attack, his death, the funeral?

10. Andy and her husband, taking Hachi, trying to make a home – but Hachi leaving and going back to the house?

11. The change of residents in the house, Hachi with nowhere to go except the station? His friends at the station?

12. Ten years of repetition, the vendors, Carl, supplying food, his being the town pet?

13. Cate, her visit to her husband’s grave, seeing Hachi after all the years?

14. The journalist, the story, taking pictures – and Carl wanting to intrude? The publication?

15. Hachi as old, Hachi’s death, the erection of the statue in his honour – and the theme of dogs as everyone’s best friend?